Morning Benders + The Black Keys

I'm back from my unnecessary hiatus from blogging, but I'm refreshed and ready to post a lot of things I've written about. What brought me back? Last night I saw the Black Keys kick off their world tour at Constitution Hall and I almost wrote my posting after the show. Let's jump right back into it...


The Morning Benders
A Pleasant Surprise. As the openers, I had no expectations and I think they performed a good set for a sit-down venue. Nothing over the top, but solid music and solid vocals in their first gig opening up for the Black Keys. The first song that caught my interest was "Go Grab a Stranger".

The drummer immediately drew me in while he played part of the drums with the end of a maraca, then the singer really kept us interested for the rest of the show. He reminded me the singer of vampire weekend, but the band's sound was completely different - longer, drawn out songs as they really played up full progressions of sound. My favorite song was their last "Excuses" which they ended with some serious railing to help us get ready for the main act.

The Black Keys
This is a band for me that has always been around, and I remember when I first heard them many years ago I thought they were too raw. Over the years, they've been around but I never really paid close attention to their songs. Their blues influence and rock sound appealed to me to have some background music while taking care of some house chores without putting much thought into the actual music. Blakroc, Pat and Dan's foray into hip-hop, grabbed my attention. It was refreshing to go into a concert without exactly knowing a ton of songs specifically, but ready to hear some gritty rock and roll.

Rock and Roll. They started with what I was told to be a RZA song, and immediately everyone on the floor was standing. They literally spent the first few songs blowing out our ears with rip roaring riffs from Dan, and passionate pounding from Pat. Dan's riffs coupled with his soulful vocals conjured a feeling that Jimmy Paige and Robert Plant would be impressed. Pat's play on the drums reminded me of the another great drummer I saw perform in the last year (from Maps and Atlases), but so much louder and better. I wrote to myself that they "take it to the 11" and make that extra push over the cliff(yes, that was a Spinal Tap reference). For two guys, they play so big (a Rudy reference?) and their ability to rock out really was appreciated by loyal and new fans of all ages.

I was apprehensive when they brought out a bassist and synth as the two others didn't really add much. We agreed that something was off, but couldn't put a finger on it. Out of nowhere, they took it down a notch and played a new song "Everlasting Light" which Dan really proved his vocal range hitting some high pitched notes. Enjoyed that song, and then they got to this song "Chop and Change" (we originally thought it was called Chocolate Change). Although it appeared pretty simplistic, this fun song became my favorite, and from that point on the four of them hit their stride and killed it with their next five songs:
Howling for You - catchy riffs and high sing along opportunity. I really felt like this was George Thorogood... but with MORE fire. I can't remember the next song name, which is a shame as it starts with a whistle... might be called "take my hand" I'm not really sure. Then they hit us with a new song, Ten Cent Pistol:


They finished their set quite nicely with a complete sound, and brought back the synth and bassist out for their encore. They started with an epic new song "Too Afraid to Love You" and that may have been my favorite song of the night:


At some point in their set (I think in the encore) they performed another new song, sure to be a hit "Next Girl" and everyone loved it. It was obvious they played their hearts out when you could see everyone in the house standing at the end of their main set and throughout the encore.

If I had to describe the Black Keys in a two words: Raw and Refined. Does that make sense? I don't know, check out their new album: Brothers.